Getting crested gecko In a couple of months, some questions.

[logan1234]

Like the title states, I'm getting a crestie in a couple of months. I am moving at the end of this month, so probably early Nov. late Oct. is when I will get one.

Elizabeth Freer has been helping me in PMs, so I got most of it covered. Just wanted to go over a few things with all opinions.

I got almost everything for the tank. A feed ledge, A grapevine log, cork round, All the fake vines/plants needed, eco earth, ZM digital thermometers, and a hand mister.

What I yet to get
-PVC pipe for "Chill Bar"
-Temp. Gun
-Exo terra 18x18x24 tank itself
- Pangea w/ Insects diet.


With the Care-taking schedule I have a few questions

Monday (Feeding day):
1. Put crickets in ground food dish in the evening with back legs cut off at their "knees".
2. Change water in water bowl.
3. Heavily spray tank in the evening.

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Tuesday:
1. Take out crickets in the morning
2. Heavily spray tank in the evening.

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Wednesday (Feeding day):
1. Put pangea in the rock ledge dish in the evening
2. Heavily spray tank in the evening.

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Thursday:
1. Take out Pangea in the evening
2. Heavily spray tank in the evening.
3. Change water in the water bowl.
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Friday (Feeding day):
1. Put pangea in the rock ledge dish in the evening.
2. Heavily spray tank in the evening.

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Saturday:
1. Heavily spray tank in the evening.
2. Change water in the water bowl.
3. Take out pangea
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Sunday:
1. Heavily spray tank in the evening

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So the questions

1. Can I switch the cricket feeding day from Monday to Wednesday? Works with my mom's/dad's/my schedule a lot better.

2. If I feed Pangea diet 2 out of 3 days of the week, do I need to use vitamin or calcium dustings?

 

[acpart]

Your schedule sounds reasonable to me. I feed CGD 3 days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) and crickets twice a week (Sun, Tues). I don't bother to cut off the legs; the cresties are great hunters and seem to enjoy chasing the crickets down. I also don't bother to remove the crickets which can eat the CGD if they haven't been caught yet.I dust the crickets on occasion. I also leave the CGD in the cage until the next feeding since I feed every 2 days or so.

Aliza

 

[Yoshi'smom]

Your schedule sounds good to me as well.
I mist twice a day; Once lightly in the morning and once heavily at night. I skip some here and there to let the enclosures properly dry out. Too much moisture/humidity can be just as bad as not enough.
I feed CGD every second night for my crew and offer insects to those that will take them about once a month. I don't have many that take them. But they still get lots of protein from the Pangea with Insects flavor.
I also wanted to mention that if you're going with the large exoterra to start out with, I'd recommend getting an adult gecko. That size enclosure will probably stress a hatchling/juvie and may have a hard time finding food in such a large enclosure.
For cresties, it's best to graduate them into enclosures as they grow.

 

[logan1234]

Forgot to mention that, sorry. I am getting an Adult crestie, so no worries!

Also, I can't wait until a reptile expo in October. It will be Halloween themed. Hopefully I can find an adult crestie there! There is an authorized Pangea distributor there, so I can pick me up some when I get him/her.

Its weird that bearded dragons are the recommended "beginners" for people. These guys seem way easier!
What makes me say this is that they don't eat near as much bugs, and they don't require dusting since they have stuff like Pangea.

 

[Yoshi'smom]

You'll still want to dust your feeders. It's just a safe practice. I use Repashy's Calcium Plus for dusting and feed Pangea flavors.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Forgot to mention that, sorry. I am getting an Adult crestie, so no worries!

Also, I can't wait until a reptile expo in October. It will be Halloween themed. Hopefully I can find an adult crestie there! There is an authorized Pangea distributor there, so I can pick me up some when I get him/her.

Its weird that bearded dragons are the recommended "beginners" for people. These guys seem way easier!
What makes me say this is that they don't eat near as much bugs, and they don't require dusting since they have stuff like Pangea.

It's a-l-m-o-s-t show time, Logan! :biggrin: Will you be able to check out the crestie vendors pre-show? Shows usually have vendor lists ahead of time.

Choose any one day for crickets out of the 3 feedings.

:scratchhead: Depending upon the balance of crickets and Pangea, some dusting might be a good idea. I'm having trouble getting a good feel on how much dusting.

What I yet to get
-PVC pipe for "Chill Bar"
-Temp. Gun
-Exo terra 18x18x24 tank itself
- Pangea w/ Insects diet.

You might find a narrow cork bark tube at this show that would make an attractive "Chill Bar"!


This is Jessica's bioactive crestie viv. She decided not to have a Chill Bar, because she felt it got in the way. My crestie George uses his Chill Bar all the time!

Zux (Shane) recommends this: Amazon.com: HDE Temperature Gun Infrared Thermometer w/ Laser Sight: Home Improvement

 

[logan1234]

What do you all recommend dusting wise?

1. Dusting product(s)
2. How many crickets? Half/All?
3. Every cricket feeding, or every other, etc?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

What do you all recommend dusting wise?

1. Dusting product(s)
2. How many crickets? Half/All?
3. Every cricket feeding, or every other, etc?

I'd get some Zoo Med Reptivite multivitamins with D3 and dust half the crickets 1x per week.

That would be easier than using the Zoo Med Reptivite multivitamins without D3 and the Zoo Med Repti Calcium with D3 that you already have for your leo Flynn.

 

[Yoshi'smom]

What do you all recommend dusting wise?

1. Dusting product(s)
2. How many crickets? Half/All?
3. Every cricket feeding, or every other, etc?

1: I use Repashy Calcium Plus for dusting.
2: I would dust all that you are feeding.
3: It depends on how often you are feeding insects. I usually only feed about once a month. I've got a lot of picky adults so because it's less frequent, I dust every time I feed insects. If you're feeding insects once a week, it may be best to dust every other insect night.

 

[logan1234]

I will be sure to pick up either dusting products as you all have mentioned, and thanks for helping me so far! I will be sure to dust all every other feeding.

EDIT:
I think I will go with Repashy Calcium Plus, as I read that it has been made just for geckos like cresties.

 

[KattsKritters]

I use the Repashy calcium ... and dust the crickets each time I give them to my cresties. But my cresties don't get the crickets every week, and some don't even want them.

 

[logan1234]

Is the frequency you feed crickets up to you? I've heard that you can feed cresties crickets once a week, once every other week, and once a month. Would it be perfectly fine as long as I dust all of the crickets instead of half, to feed crickets every other week? If not it's okay, just wondering

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Is the frequency you feed crickets up to you? I've heard that you can feed cresties crickets once a week, once every other week, and once a month. Would it be perfectly fine as long as I dust all of the crickets instead of half, to feed crickets every other week? If not it's okay, just wondering

I used to feed my crestie mainly crickets. He ate them eagerly. Now he does not eat them eagerly. Sometimes when you feed primarily Pangea Complete diets the crestie "may" get used to the sweet taste. To keep your crestie interested in crickets I'd go for 1x per week. There's always the chance that if the crestie you buy has been fed mostly powdered diets that feeding him crickets will be harder.

If possible I think it's good to feed insects once in a while.

 

[logan1234]

The breeder I'm getting a crestie off of (possibly) is a Pangea seller, so I don't know if they primarily feed them that stuff or not. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I'll start off with trying the 1x per week crickets, but if he/she shows no interest, I'll bump it to more infrequently.

 

[KattsKritters]

If the breeder is a seller of Pangea, its a safe bet they will be feeding that to the geckos. It is not a bad idea to keep with that brand, but it is up to you. I have about 3 (1 adult and 2 juvies) from someone who sells Pangea. The three are adapting just fine to Repashy. They will eat what they are given sooner or later ... LOL

 

[logan1234]

I still need to clean everything and put eco-earth in the tank, but is this good for the setup? I ordered 2 other vines, but it seems cramped as it is. I also have one of those standing plants I'll have to figure out how to incorporate later, possibly.





EDIT: sorry, can't get images to be right side up!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

:cheer:, Logan! Your crestie setup looks good!

Have you decided about a chill bar?

Two Exo Terra twisty vines twisted together will add additional surfaces for climbing.

Next time please take the pictures with a "flash" so that we can see your setup better.

 

[logan1234]

We still haven't got the PVC for the bar, but it will be added A quick question, does the chill bar only go for a section of the tank, or the entire width of it?

Additionally, I didn't think of using flash because I'm used to brighter lights. This house doesn't have as bright.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

We still haven't got the PVC for the bar, but it will be added A quick question, does the chill bar only go for a section of the tank, or the entire width of it?

Additionally, I didn't think of using flash because I'm used to brighter lights. This house doesn't have as bright.

My crestie's chill bar measures 9.25 inches. It's centered diagonally within a 14 inch space. It does not need to be centered. You'll see how often your crestie uses it.

When is your show?

 

[logan1234]

The show is on the 23 of this month. So 20 days away from now!